David Bedingham looking for UK passport, no intention of playing for England

South Africa's David Bedingham was sidelined from all the media attention despite his consistency in the County Championship Division One. In 14 matches for Durham, the 30-year-old made 926 runs at an average of 71.23 and is currently the leading run-scorer of the tournament. Despite so, Bedingham has not made the headlines, especially with Ben Stokes being on the side. 

A foreigner earning praise in England in the presence of Stokes is not something that has happened before. However, Bedingham is not bothered about that and revealed his intention to get a UK passport and play as a local player. At one point in his career, the George-born cricketer expressed his desire to represent England in international cricket but he believes that it is no more possible and is eager to prove for South Africa.

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“The plan was always to get a [United Kingdom] passport, and I'm still trying to do that and then play as a local player. I think that could happen in two years' time from now. It would be silly for me to think of playing for a country that I'm not qualified for. If I had been playing only in England for six or seven years and I hadn't gone back to South Africa, then there was a possibility of being eligible to play for England,” Bedingham told Cricbuzz.

“But I don't think I truly believed or even thought of that. I would probably only have thought about that if I eventually qualified over the six years without playing in South Africa or for South Africa. It's good to have a solid mindset - to score runs for South Africa, and do as well as I can for Western Province and Durham. It's as clear as that,” he added.

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Bedingham will feature in the upcoming series against West Indies, where he will play a key part in the absence of Dean Elgar. After his retirement, South Africa need a new star of red-ball cricket and Bedingham is in contention to fill his massive shoes. In the warm-up game against Champs XI, the cricketer scored 74 runs and would hope to keep up with the momentum.